Month: April 2013

RWANDA: A regional trade hub – Tunde Olupitan interviews Hon. François Kanimba, Minister of Trade and Industry, Rwanda Mr François Kanimba has been one of the main architects of economic reforms implemented in Rwanda in the last 15 years which allowed the country to be one of the fastest growing economies in Sub Saharan Africa. As efforts to boost intra-African trade gather momentum, can Rwanda establish itself as an East African trade…

Total external financial flows to Africa reached a new record high in 2012, totalling USD 182 billion, driven by FDI and remittances. there have been two major trends: Remittances overtook aid and FDI for the first time and became the largest external financial flow to Africa; second, Africa’s increasingly integrated with emerging economies. Not only through trade, but increasingly so through investment flows, which are gradually diversifying. However, there’s a strong heterogeneity in the relative importance of different financial flows to individual African countries, with still half the African countries relying largely on aid.

The forthcoming African Economic Outlook highlights the growing importance of investment, official development aid and remittances to a continent on the move. External financial flows into Africa hit a record in 2012 and are expected to top 200 billion dollars in 2013. It puts the spotlight on emerging financial trends that Africa can take advantage of and the risks they face.